If I told you
by Kelsblack
Summary: Hermione's mother died turning her father into something resembling a monster. Rating is purely for my own safety and future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I own nothing. This isn't a new story, I'm just fixing it. It's not complete either. There are 5 chapters to edit but I may combine them seeing as they are fairly short. I guess I'll find out if the amount I add to them bulks them up enough. If anyone is looking to be a BETA let me know, it would be so helpful to have someone hold me accountable. Please R/R! Please no flames they'll just make me feel sad, constructive criticism welcome though! AU obviously but it was written in 2005.

Hermione grimaced slightly as she pulled herself off of her cold bathroom floor. Her head throbbed and she swayed slightly. Tenderly she held one arm close to her body, blood staining through her sleeve. Her golden eyes watered furiously and though she made no noises her chin trembled slightly as the tears streamed down her face. 

'How did I let this happen to me?'

She attempted to wipe her face dry with an awkward movement from her good arm. As she did this her sleeve slipped up and an assortment of bruises in all states of healing were revealed. Along with the bruises she had burn marks in perfect circles, cigarettes or cigars and perhaps both. She quietly opened the bathroom door and silently moved toward her father's bedroom, she had finally caught sight of her wand earlier that evening.

Her father lay on the floor, muttering in his sleep, a bottle of gin lay near his outstretched hand. Quietly Hermione made her way to his open closet door. There on the top shelf lay her beloved wand and her way out of this mess. She first tried shifting to her tiptoes to reach it but with her short stature it was just inches out of her grasp. She sighed quietly and looked around. There were piles of clothes, trash and bottles everywhere. She slid a pile of dirty laundry over closer to the closet. Standing on top of the pile of clothes she was finally able to grab her wand. The relief she felt almost brought her to tears, it was like she could breathe again.

Hermione scampered back into her room and began to quickly pack her trunk. There were two weeks left of summer and even with her wand there was no way that she was staying at home. Pausing for a second she thought back to that first night.

_Hermione was curled up in her favorite chair next to the fireplace in the living room and pouring over her new Arithmancy text book. She was very absorbed in her book and before she knew it, it was already 1 o'clock in morning. Yawning she considered setting her book down as she gazed into the fire. There was a sound of keys being fumbled and dropped a couple of times before front door of the house flew open with a crash. In came Hermione's father, drunk again. Hermione let out a surprised little yelp and book fell to the ground with a loud thump. He turned to look at her, glaring. She shrunk backwards into her chair as he stormed toward her.  
><em> 

_"How's the perfect little bitch?" Her father said with a look of distain. Hermione winced slightly, her father used to be so kind.  
><em> 

_"I'm sorry I was reading my school book and I lost track of time. I'm going to go to bed now Daddy," Hermione said in a shaky voice that betrayed her fear. Her father shook his head slowly and took another step closer to her.  
><em> 

_"Oh, you think you just get to go to bed after all you've done to me?" He yelled. He grabbed Hermione's upper arms picking her up and then he threw her against the wall. Hermione's head hit the wall with a sickening thud and her arm took the weight of her fall to the floor. He glared at Hermione like it was her fault and kicked her repeatedly in the stomach before walking into his bedroom. This was the first time that her father had ever hit her, she hoped that it was the last time too, but she knew deep inside that this was far from over. Hermione shook with silent sobs knowing that her mother's death had changed her life forever._

Hermione's mother had died in the car accident that the family had been in after picking up Hermione from the school train. Hermione's father had blamed her for it and began drinking every night. The first time that he hit her had been only a week after the incident. Now with two weeks left of summer Hermione had pretty much gotten used to him coming home every night drunk. The beatings had become crueler each time. She knew that she had to leave but she couldn't at first, he had taken her wand. It was a good thing she had found out where it was, if things had continued the way they were going there was a good chance she would have been killed.

Hermione pulled a lined piece of paper and a pen out of her desk and began to write a letter to her father. It was just for appearances but appearances after all were very important.

_Dear father, _

_It is now time for me to go and visit the Weasley's but I will miss you very much! I will not see you until the school year is over but I promise to write you as often as possible! Sorry I had to run but I was running a bit behind schedule._

_Love,  
>Hermione <em>

Hermione grimaced, the letter was so absurd considering how their relationship had been this summer, but she hoped that he would just be glad that she was gone. Ron had already invited her to spend the whole summer at the Burrow but she had declined, he told her to just show up if she changed her mind and she intended to do just that. Hermione pulled her trunk behind her and headed out of the house. She stood at the curb and put her wand into the air to summon the Knight bus. Out of nowhere the giant bus appeared and allowed her to get on.

"I'm going to the Burrow," Hermione grumbled to the driver and she deposited the correct amount of money into the bucket. He gave her a big smile but she looked down at the floor and headed toward the back of the bus. She slunk down into her seat her head resting against the window and she closed her eyes and thought about how radically her life had changed this summer. In no time at all the bus came to a halt.

"WE ARE RIGHT OUTSIDE OF THE BURROW!" Stan yelled so that he would be heard in the back of the bus. Hermione jumped out of her seat and sheltered her head out of habit. She blushed slightly to herself when she realized what she had done. Hurriedly she grabbed her trunk and quickly exited the bus. The bus disappeared with a deafening bang.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I own nothing.

Hermione stood at the edge of the Weasley's property and stared at where the large, purple Knight Bus had been. She looked down to examine herself. Her clothes hung a bit strangely on her thin body, she just hoped her friends wouldn't notice her weight loss. She had paid the extra fee on the bus for the hot water bottle and toothbrush. She managed to make herself look presentable in the bus bathroom. She picked up her trunk and turned to face the Weasley's house. Her eyes watered and she began to shake slightly.

'How can I face my friends, will they still accept me after what he did to me? Will they judge me for taking so long to get out of there? I'm supposed to be the smart one.' 

She forced herself to start walking toward the Burrow until she came to a halt right outside of the door. She stood staring at the door wondering what to do. Was it too late to knock? Would it be too presumptuous to just walk in? Would they even hear her if she knocked? The home was fairly crowded with people, most of the teenagers which meant the volume level was usually rather high. The door to the Burrow flew open and Hermione came face to face with someone's wand. Hermione jumped back in alarm. 

"Who's there?" said a deep voice from within the shadows. Hermione shook harder and took a deep breathe before replying. 

"It's me, Hermione!" She said in a small voice. The wand was taken back and she heard it being put into someone's robes. 

"Oh, Hermione! I thought you said that you couldn't come!" said Ron stepping out of his house and engulfing Hermione in a hug. She stiffened and stepped away not hugging Ron back, he had hurt her bruises and the occasion welt on her back. Ron grinned, oblivious like always. 

"Surprise? My father and I thought it would be a good idea for me to spend time with my friends for the last two weeks of summer," said Hermione with a forced smile trying to make him feel better after pushing him away and looked down at her watch, "I'm sorry it's so late, I hope I didn't wake anyone up." 

"No, most of us are in the living room actually," said Ron grabbing her trunk and leading her into the room where Harry, Ginny and the twins were sitting and talking in hushed voices. Harry was the first to look up and you could see the joy and surprise in seeing Hermione. He jumped out of his chair by the fire and ran up to Hermione. Harry pulled Hermione into a bear hug. 

"Hermione! I'm so glad that you could make it!" Harry whispered into her ear. Her whole body went rigid in an attempt to not show anyone how much pain she was in. She pushed Harry away from her aching body. 

"Harry it's good to see you too," she said in a voice full of pain. Harry looked at the witch curiously, he was a slightly more observant that Ron but that didn't take much. Harry returned to his seat by the fire. Ron pushed past her and sat in the only other open chair. Hermione looked around unsure of where to sit; she could feel the tightness in her throat as the tears began to prick at her eyes. She shook her head knowing that she was being stupid. Fred and George looked up at the same time from their spot on the loveseat. The moved slightly away from each other and motioned for Hermione to sit down between them. Hermione smiled at them gratefully and tentatively set herself down on the couch. 

"What happened to your leg Hermione?" Ginny with an expression that could only be described as horrified. Everyone looked to Hermione to see what the young witch was referring to. Hermione's pant leg had ridden up exposing her swollen ankle and skin that was more purple than it was flesh tone. Hermione's gaze flew around the room gazing at people's reactions as she pulled her pant leg down. Her face paled to a ghostly white. Harry narrowed his eyes at his friend's reaction.

"I fell. Silly me. I fell. Down some stairs. Because I was reading! You know me! It doesn't hurt anymore, don't worry." Hermione rambled out with a forced laugh. Ron laughed with her.

"Oh, Hermione. What did I tell you? Reading is dangerous." Ron laughed again.

Hermione wrapped her arms around her thin frame; her father hadn't been buying food very regularly this summer and wouldn't let her get a job or leave the house even. Her whole body trembled slightly and she closed her eyes and took some deep breaths, she had found that this helped calm her down. Opening her eyes back up she looked over and noticed that Fred was looking at her. 

"Fred?" Hermione said softly. He looked startled for a second then softened under her sad gaze. 

"How did you know that I was Fred?" He asked incredulously. She blushed slightly. 

"I can tell by your voice, it's different from George's." Hermione said simply, her eyes shining brightly with unshed tears. Fred looked at her and wanted to give her a hug, she looked so lost and alone, even while sitting in a room full of her friends. Instead he grabbed her hand and gave it a small squeeze and gave her a reassuring smile. Ron looked at his brother quizzically, he had never seen him be so caring, but with Hermione looking like that it could melt anyone's heart. Finally Hermione let out a small sigh. 

"I think I just am going to head to bed, I'm really tired. I'll talk with you guys more in the morning." Hermione grabbed her trunk and began to head up the stairs. Ginny quickly jumped up and helped her with her trunk. 

"Guys, I'm going to go to bed too, so I'll just help Hermione get settled, night." Ginny said quietly. Hermione followed Ginny to Ginny's room. Ginny set Hermione's trunk at the foot of Hermione's bed before she flopped onto her own bed. Hermione slowly laid down in her own bed being careful not to hurt any of her open wounds or bruises. 

"Night Hermione!" Ginny called softly from her bed. 

"Night Gin," whispered Hermione falling into a deep sleep. Hermione slept the best she had all summer, unafraid to sleep deeply because her father couldn't find her here.

Hermione woke early the next morning, before Ginny, and got dressed quietly. She crept down the stairs quietly and headed into the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley stood in front of the stove humming quietly to herself stirring a pot of gravy before swiftly checking on the biscuits in the oven. 

Hermione stood a moment her eyes filled with tears remembering how she used to find her mother doing the exact thing in the morning. She swallowed over the lump in her throat. 

"Good morning, Mrs. Weasley!" said Hermione trying to sound cheerful. Mrs. Weasley whipped around startled. 

"Oh! Good morning, dear! I didn't know you were here, did you arrive last night?" Mrs. Weasley said with a motherly smile that just made Hermione feel worse. Hermione nodded her head not trusting herself to talk in case she started crying. She missed her mommy.


End file.
